Streaking Flyers Seek Region 10 Tournament Title on Sunday at The Hangar
The Sandhills Community College basketball team advanced to Sunday's 1 p.m. Region 10 Tournament Championship Game with a 95-64 victory over Johnston CC on Saturday afternoon at The Hangar.
Led by Sayaun Dent with 17 points and Elijah Idlett with 16, the Flyers took advantage of 24 Jaguar turnovers to pull away in the second half and win their 13th consecutive game. Corry Addison and Savion Staton were each credited with four steals. Staton also led the winners with six assists.
The No. 1 ranked Flyers (29-2) meet Central Carolina CC (10-18), a 98-89 winner over Oxford Emory (GA) in Saturday's other semi-final contest. A win on Sunday would put Coach Mike Apple's squad into next Saturday's District Championship Game against the Region 17 champion, also at The Hangar.
The Flyers went almost four minutes without scoring after Idlett drained a three for the first points of the game. Later the teams were tied at 8-8 before a three by Nathan Yow put the home team in front for good.
A three by Dent gave the Flyers their first double-digit lead at 37-27 with just under five minutes remaining in the half. With only seven players dressed, 15 first-half points by Erik Alvey helped the Jaguars maintain that margin as the Flyers took a 44-34 advantage into the intermission.
Leading 51-40 about five minutes into the second half, eight different players shared in the scoring as the Flyers blew the game wide open with a 25-4 run that made it 76-44.
The Flyer non-starters accounted for 54 points. Other double-figure scorers were Tyrell Allmond with 12 points, and Cameron Williams and Cameron Richardson, with 11 each. Alvey finished with 21 for the Jags who completed their season with a record of 10-16.
Prior to the game, Dent was honored as the Region 10 Player of the year and Apple as the Region 10 Coach of the Year. With a 30th win on Sunday, the Flyers would tie the 2012 national championship team for the most victories in a season in the 12-year history of the basketball program at Sandhills. The two teams with the best records heading into the Region 17 tournament this weekend were Prince George's CC (MD), 16-8 and CC of Allegheny County (PA), 15-10.
Johnston – Mitchell 4 3-5 11, Alvey 7 6-6 21, Hill 8 0-0 16, Pearsall 3 0-0 6, McLeod 4 0-0 10, Poole 0 0-0 0, Taylor 0 0-0 0 Totals 26 9-11 64. Sandhills – Idlett 6 2-2 16, Dent 5 5-6 17, Bryan 0 0-0 0, Addison 1 0-2 2, Miller 3 0-0 6, Ratliffe 1 0-0 2, Staton 2 1-2 5, Allmond 5 1-2 12, Yow 3 0-0 9, Bailey 0 0-0 0, Williams 5 1-2 11, Richardson 4 2-2 11, Davis 1 0-0 2, Medins 1 0-0 2 Totals 37 12-18 95. Three-point goals: JCC 3 (McLeod 2, Alvey); SCC 9 (Yow 3, Idlett 2, Dent 2, Richardson, Allmond).
C. Bergmann
Photo By: Donna Ford